OREANDA-NEWS. As infrastructure investment in Latin America and the Caribbean continues to fall short of the levels needed for economic development, experts, private-sector representatives and senior officials will meet April 13-15 in Punta del Este, Uruguay, at the 2015 PPPAmericas Conference to look at how to increase investment through public-private partnerships.

Registration for the conference, held every two years in a different country, is now open. The event is being organized by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and National Development Corporation of Uruguay, with a focus on the latest trends in public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This year’s conference theme is Scale and Credibility: Taking PPPs to the Next Level. The issues to be discussed include how to select better projects, make PPPs more fiscally sustainable and transparent, improve on the recent generation of PPP laws and regulations across the region, and deal with a surge in unsolicited proposals.

In addition, two regional reports will be launched during the conference: the 2014 Infrascope, which measures the ability of Latin American and Caribbean countries to mobilize private investment in infrastructure through PPPs, and Smart Mobility PPPs in Latin America, which looks at alternative and innovative means of transportation, such as rapid transit buses and bicycles, among others.

PPPAmericas 2015 provides a unique forum for government and private-sector representatives to develop skills, share knowledge, establish relationships with potential partners, and learn about the development of new PPP models in the region.

About the MIF

The MIF, a member of the IDB Group, is funded by 39 donors and supports private sector-led development benefiting low-income populations and the poor—their businesses, their farms, and their households. The aim is to give them the tools to boost their incomes: access to markets and the skills to compete in those markets, access to finance, and access to basic services, including green technology.

A core MIF mission is to act as a development laboratory—experimenting, pioneering, and taking risks to build and support successful models for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses. An experienced actor and partner with practical knowledge at the local level, the MIF has organized programs across Latin America and the Caribbean to improve regulatory frameworks and increase the capacity of governments to develop and implement PPPs to provide infrastructure and basic services.